Very interesting article, Anne. Thank you. I also loved the "travel clothes" bit. What would modern travellers think of that? I sometimes feel that certain people should not be allowed to board planes in their "travelling outfits"..... if you can call them that way....

I'm obviously of a different generation to a lot of you because I can still remember putting on my "best clothes" for a journey - but then I am Italian...

It brings to mind the instructions given to me by my mother (and I'm sure I was not alone) about how essential it was to have clean underwear at all times...."in case one was run over by a bus".

That notion still remains in my subconscious when I board a plane - with immaculate drawers, naturally!

My English husband who always has TWO hankies because when he was little his mother used to ask him every time he left the house whether he had a clean hankie with him; he never understood why, so, to avoid discussions, he would just have an extra one in his pocket. When we got married, he finally realised why: I never remember a hankie so often have to ask him for one and ... he ALWAYS has one to give me. You see: Mother is always right!